Ducks 3 Canucks 2 (Anaheim leads series 3-1): C'mon, Vancouver fans, you knew riding Roberto Luongo could not last forever, and 10 playoff games and 40 minutes of an 11th was a pretty good run, all things considered.
Vancouver led two-zip through two, and it seemed like a good night to catch up on some sleep. Then Anaheim spun some irrefutable magic, with Teemu Selanne knocking Sami Salo's stick away, making it impossible for the Vancouver defenceman to check him as he scored the tying goal. The Canucks were goners right then and there, and it took just 2:07 for Travis Moen to score the game-winner.
There's probably a good story to how the Ducks got the 25-year-old Moen. Ducks GM Brian Burke was just a month into his new gig when he got Moen from the Chicago Blackhawks in July 2005, right after the lockout ended. The Ducks gave up Michael Holmqvist, the one-time first-round pick. Obviously, someone close to Burke made a mental note that Moen, originally a sixth-round draft choice, might have better value as a role player than Holmqvist, a one-time first-rounder who's a couple years older. Now Moen is set to help the Ducks reach successive conference finals, while Holmqvist remains a third-liner on a bad team.
Rangers 2 Sabres 1 (series tied 2-2): The big off-day story out of Buffalo is Sabres coach Lindy Ruff scratching Maxim Afinogenov for his apparently indifferent play. Actually, that would have been a big off-day story if notthe latest Goal/No Goal controversy which the Sabres have been a magnet for since June 19, 1999. (Sorry to open up an old wound there.)
A reader who's a Sabres fan is taking this remarkably well -- he figures this just an evenout and the Sabres had bad karma to shed after the botched disallowed goal call which went against New York in Game 3.
TIME, TIME, TIME, IS ON LOU'S SIDE
Mirtle has a thread about a new wireless timing system the NBA uses which the NHL might adopt next season. They would have adopted it this season, but Lou Lamoriello is a co-signer on the league's joint chequing account.
LABOUR LOST?
Workers at Scotiabank Place, mostly in maintenance, could walk off the job next Monday, the day the Senators would host the New Jersey Devils in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semi-final (if it goes that far, of course).
Well, it wouldn't be Ottawa in spring if there wasn't some potential public debacle involving the two biggest games in town -- Senators hockey and government. The unionized workers, who include the Zamboni drivers, organized last June but have been unable to get a contract. Their negotiators and those for Capital Sports are set to meet with a federally appointed arbitrator.
Another blog pointed this out: If the workers strike, and if NHLPA members -- not to mentioned the unionized game officials -- refuse to cross a picket line (just suppose for a second they would), the NHL could be forced to shift the Senators home games to another location.
Word is there's a building in downtown Toronto which could be rented. Just sayin'.
Related:
Labor Issues In Ottawa, Bigger Questions (Jerseys and Hockey Love)
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
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